Misconceptions
by Gemagi-chan
Summary: Prompt fill. Odagiri is less than honest about how he and Yankumi spend an evening.  Disclaimed


A little placating and compromising followed by substantial shouting and Yankumi had brought the boys, still trying to yell their orders out to Kuma after her premature offer, down to low grumbling and moaning.

"You're still really bad with money, huh?" Odagiri remarked quietly.

"Shut up"

This small interaction turned the mood around in a beat as Yankumi's ex-students joined in with renewed vigour to methodically list the many mistakes she had made, monetary and otherwise, and would most likely continue to make. Yankumi could only berate them for talking with their mouths full.

The meal dulled to relative silence until Odagiri spoke, as a thought suddenly occurred to him "You have to buy sake for tonight, don't you?"

"Huh?"

"Sake. Tonight. You have to _buy it_" he said, exasperation evident in his voice.

"Oh yeah" Yankumi responded, barely batting a lid as her mood changed suddenly, lost in thought over what the highest quality liquor she could afford was on such sudden notice.

The abrupt stillness around the table did not escape Odagiri. All the eating, chattering and general merriment at Yankumi's expense had stopped in an instant, with all members' attention undeniably focused on the two teachers.

"You're... having sake... tonight... together?" Kuraki asked, words punctuated with an accusatory finger at them both, confusion and shock written all over his face.

A moment of madness passed though Odagiri's mind.

Odagiri Ryu had never really been one to push Yankumi's buttons. He was content enough to let others bear the burden of her anger when they poked and prodded a particularly sensitive area in their teacher's private affairs. Observation from a safe distance was not only practical, but far more amusing.

However, after a shaky first day of being corralled into partially taking responsibility for the damage caused to the south building ("There is no 'I' in team, Odagiri!"), and the endless abuse suffered when Yankumi would try and force her current class to participate in what for them would be a wholly image-damaging activity, despite his first-hand knowledge that at this point it would surely backfire, he found this opportunity far too tempting to pass up.

"Yeah. It's been a while since we've been together, so she suggested we have drinks tonight. And so on"

A moment passed.

It played out exactly as he thought it would. No matter how many years passed or times changed, being the particular type of kids they were (and he once was) they had the severest cases of selective hearing. He could almost see his carefully chosen words bouncing back and forth in their heads, colliding and melding into a messy pile of semi-false conclusions and misconstrued intentions.

_'We've been together. Drinks tonight. __**And so on**__'._

And no matter how many years passed, Yankumi remained as oblivious as ever.

Even Kuma was at a loss as all eyes trained on the only person who had up until now been relatively silent. They were waiting for an explanation, for her to try and dig herself out of the situation, the possibly salacious nature of her planned evening proving them right in their original assumptions of Yankumi and her former student's relationship.

However, Odagiri hadn't really lied about anything they were doing and thus she only added fuel to the fire by confirming his claims, as he had expected. Though her enthusiasm about it made him shift in his chair. It _had_ been a long time.

"Mmm-hmm. I've wanted to do this for so long. It's like a dream. This is going to be great!" she gushed, all smiles and playful nudges directed at her protege. Just about to finish off her noodles, Yankumi finally noticed the attention she had been receiving around the table just long enough to see the once slack-jawed faces morph into what she could only equate to the looks the housewives in town wore when discussing the most shocking and juicy gossip.

She had no idea why.

"Whoa, how scary!" Kazama exclaimed behind a cupped hand, eyes wide as they observed her with mock fear.

Kamiya joined in, palm slapped across his mouth with a gasp as the others leaned in across the table "Who knew that we had _that_ kind of teacher?"

Silent laughter from Odagiri and Yankumi's baffled "Huh!" did not halt the barrage as the boys jested and whispered about the two with barely hidden delight. A common pastime at the ramen shop that day.

"I _know_! Who would've guessed?" Ichimura said as he, with very little subtlety, nudged Honjo in the ribs; a hint to join in he didn't need.

"We're lucky we graduated. If we had to repeat a year..."

They shook their heads and shivered together as with one more covert glance to her end of the table, they scooted and scraped their chairs as far away as the space would allow, leaving a considerable gap from the two.

Through the sharp scratching and knees bumping and hesitant glances, and despite the lack of clarity in the conversations that had been passing her buy, it finally dawned on Yankumi _exactly_ what they were insinuating.

Her face was as hot and fiery as her temper as she shot up so suddenly the chair she had been sitting on flung into the wall behind before toppling onto the floor. Any worry they had been feigning before turned terrifyingly real.

Pulse racing, face burning and fists shaking, Yankumi could barely string a sentence together as she looked from the boys cowering and slinking closer and closer to Kuma, to Odagiri who was unusually interested in the remains of his broth, no sign of clarification or any kind of help whatsoever coming from him.

He should have at least said something.

"I... you guys... I would never-!" she finally choked out, sentence cut short as Odagiri stood with a sigh, bowl now empty, one hand reaching into his pocket to pull out money for the food as the other found it's way to Yankumi's back as he pushed her towards the door. He smirked slightly as she growled and huffed, allowing herself to be lead away at his insistance.

Complacently frustrated.

Left in the wake of her volatile temper and his unclear intent, those at Kuma's Ramen Shop could only share a meaningful look of solidarity as from down the street came one last, half-hearted yell.

"Don't think you'll get off easy tonight either Odagiri!"


End file.
